Binding machine



sept. 17, 1940.

L. M. HARVEY ET AL BINDING MACHINE Filed April 24, 1931 7 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 17, 1940. L, M, HARVEY ET AL `2,215,121

BINDING MACHINE Filed April. 24, 1931 abran/neg uw .Nk W m M .a

7. mm QQN w i sePt 17, 1940 L. M. HARVEY ET AL- 2,215,121

BINDING MACHINE K Filed April 24, 1931 7 Sheets-Sheet C5 mmm/m24 L.M HARVEY EVAL sgpt. 17, 1940.

BINDI-NG MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed April 24, 1931 Sept. 1.7, M. HARVEY Er AL.

BINDING MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed April 24, 1951 wub I @Mm/M014 229W cAzzm,"

i ey M f Sept. 17, 1940. v L. M HARVEY ET AL 2,215,121

BINDING MACHINE Filed April 24, 1951 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 @awe/MUM C ZZerzf Lea f7. /arrey Sept. 17, 1940.

l.. M. HARVEY ET AL 2,215,121

BINDING'MACHINE 7 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed April 24, 1931 3l VZZJar CZZen l. e0 f7. Han/] W MGi/tow@ Patented Sept. 17, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BINDING MACHINE Application April 24, 1931, Serial No. 532,510

32 Claims.

This invention relates to binding machines such as employed for placing metal binders or bands around boxes, bales, or other objects. This type of machine includes feeding means for passing the stock around the box and for thereafter placing the band in tension and then forming a tie in the overlapping portions of the band.

The general object of this invention is to mprove the general construction of such a machine and to render the same substantially automatic in its operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved construction for effecting the guiding of the stock around the box, and also to provide improved means for controlling grippers which cooperate in enabling the band to be subjected to tension, and to maintain the tensionin the band preparatory to forming the tie.

A further object of the invention is to provide 20 automatic means for enabling the band to be subjected to a predetermined tension before the tie is formed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a machine of this kind with improved feeding mechanism which will operate automatically to feed the stock around the box immediately upon the completion of the operation of forming the tie, when the box carrying the tie has been moved away or changed to a second position to receive a second band.

In the operation of such machines, the stock -is usually drawn off from a reel, and at the end of the reel it may happen that a short length of stock will present itself which is of insuicient length to enable the band to be formed around the box and tied.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide a machine of this kind with means for automatically withdrawing such a short length of stock from the machine.

According to the invention, the feeding mechanism includes feed rollers which engage the stock to advance the same, and one of these feed rollers is driven so that its periphery Will ad-y operation, tension is exerted in the band operating to give slight movements in the mounting for this pulley- One of the objects of the invention is to provide means for utilizing this movement of the mounting, or support, for this pulley to effect automatic operations of the machine, suchas controlling a tension gripper that maintains the tension in the band which has been developed preparatory to forming the tie; and also to employ this movement of the guide pulley support to control the starting of the tie forming mechanism at about the time the predetermined tension in the band has been developed.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved construction for the guide frame facilitating the laying of a band around the box with overlapping portions at the ends of the band, and to construct the guide means in such a Way as to facilitate access of the forming dies (that form the tie) to these overlapping portions of the band.

According to the invention, we provide a frame extending around the box which operates as a guide for the stock when the stock is fed around the box to form the band, and this frame operates to hold the stock yieldingly in place. In order to enable the machine to operate upon boxes of different sizes, this frame may be considerably larger than the box to which the band is being applied.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide pulling mechanism which will operate to pull the stock out of the guide frame and lay the same against the side ofthe box in a relatively short space of time. In other words, the band is pulled in at a relatively high velocity to lay the band against the wall of the box after which the band isv pulled upon at a slower speed but thereby positively developing tension in the band and bringing into automatic operation the other mechanism for maintaining the tension forming the tie, and if the die is formed reloading the guide frame with stock for the next band vthrough the operation of the vautomaticfeeding mechanism.

A further object ofithe'invention is to improve the construction of the tie formingmechanism in such a machine.

In the operation of means of this type, the stock is supplied to the machine from a reel.

In this' machine the feeding mechanism that feeds the stock around the box operates at high speed and draws the stock oi of thereel with great rapidity,'thereby causing rapid rotation of the reel.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide means for preventing the continued rotation of the reel after the feeding mechanism has stopped pulling the stock forward from the reel to fill the guide frame.

Further objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists in the novel parts and combinations of parts to be described hereinafter, all of which contribute to produce an eiiicient binding machine.

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described in the following specification, While the broad scope of the invention is pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation in partial section (certain parts being broken away), of a machine embodying the invention, and showing a short portion of the guide frame through which the box ispassed to receive the bands.

Figure 2 is a side elevation showing parts of the tensioning mechanism illustrated in Figure 1 by indicating them in an opposite extreme position from that in which they are shown in Figure 1, certain parts being broken away.

Figure 3 is a substantiallyhorizontal section taken about on the line 3-3 of Figure l but looking in an upward direction, certain parts being broken away. This view particularly illustrates the anchor gripper which resists the pull of the pulling mechanism 4when the tension is being developedn the band, and also illutrates a holding gripper which performs the function of keeping hold of the stock at certain times to insure that the stock will always be within the control of the machine.

Figure 4 is a vertical section 'taken about on the line of Figure 3, further illustrating details of the grippers illustrated in Figure 3, and also illustrating the shears for severing the band from the stock when the tie is to be formed in it. 4

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4 and further illustrating details of `12h85@ grippers.

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 3, that is to say, it is a view looking up from below at the controlling mechanism or actuating mechanism for the grippers illustrated in Figure 3 but showingthese parts in the relation which they have when the anchor gripper is closed.

Figure 7 is a plan of the upper side of the machine, certain parts being broken away or shown in section. This view particularly illus-4 trates the driving mechanism for the tie forming mechanism and also illustrates the actuating mechanism and controlling means for the tension gripper which is set automatically to maintain the tension in th'e band.

Figure 8 is a front view of a guide member which bridges a gap in the guide frame and which assists in guiding the stock through the grippers and into the guide frame around the box.

Figure 9 is a side elevation of theguide member shown in Figure 3 and further illustrating details of this guide member, and also further illustrating a guide finger which is employed to facilitate the guiding of the stock from the tension gripper through the guide frame.

Figure 10 is a side elevation in partial vertical section Vthrough *he machine in the vicinity of the tie forming mechanism, and further illustrating the parts oi the machine in this locality, certain parts being broken away.

Figure 11 is a substantially horizontal section taken at about the locality of the line I I-I I of Figure 10 and further illustrating the jaws of the die and the cutter that severs the .band from the stock preparatory to forming the tie.

Figure 12 is a substantially horizontal crosssection taken about on the line |2I2 of Figure- 10 and further illustrating details of the tension gripper that maintains the tension in the band before the tie is formed.

Figure 13 is a cross section taken about on the line |3-I3 of Figure 10 and further illustrating the construction of the guide frame at the point where the stock is fed into it.

Figure 14 is a side elevation upon a `reduced scale illustrating the general construction of the guide frame and its relation to the box;l This view also indicates the location of the tie forming mechanism.

Figure 15 is a. cross section upon an enlarged scale on the line l5-i5 of Figure 14 and further illustrating the construction of the guide frame which enables it to yieldingly hold the stock though permitting the stock to pull itself out of the frame when pulled uprapidly by the pulling mechanism to lay the band against the box.

Figure 16 is a section on the line IS-I 6 of Figure 14, but upon an enlarged scale, and illustrating coordinated features of the corners of the frame and its side members which enable the opening out of the corners of the frame to actuate the sides of the frame to enable them to release the stock when it is being laid against the box.

Figure 17 is across section about on the line l'i-I'i of Figure 14 upon an .enlarged scale, certain parts vbeing broken away.

Figure 18 is a substantially vertical section through the interior of the machine and particularly illustrating a duplex driving mechanism for enabling the -pulling mechanism to be driven frictionally at a relatively high speed and which will effect a positive driving of the pulling mechanism if the friction drive slips, as it will do when the band commences to become tight on the box.

Figure 19 is a side elevation and partial section of the parts illustrated in Figure 18, certain parts being broken away.

Figure 20 is a detail View illustrating an escapement apparatus and a clutch which controls the feeding mechanism and permits its driving shaft to make one revolution to feed in a prederoA of the apparatus and indicating parts in a second relation or stage in their cooperation.

Figure 23 is a view similar to Figure 22 but illustrating a third stage in the cooperation of these parts.

Figure 24 is a view corresponding -to vFigure 20 and also corresponding to Figure 22, that is to say, it shows the parts in the same relation or stage as in Figure 22.

Figure 25 is a substantially horizontal'secticn 75 taken about on'the line 25-25 ofFlgure 1 and particularly illustrating the driving gear for the pullingmechanism and for the feeding ymechanism.

Figure 26 is a substantially vertical section taken about on theyline 26-26 of Figure 25 and further illustrating the driving mechanism for the feed rollers and the means for enabling the relatively movable roller to approach the other to grip. the stock and feed it forward.

Figure 27 is a vertical sectiontaken about on the line 21-21 of Figure 25 and particularly i1- lustrating details of the guide through which the stock passes as it goes into the machine, a portion of the frame of the machine being shown at this point broken away.

Figure 28 is a substantially horizontal section taken on the line 28-28 of Figure 1 and particularly illustrating the mode of operation of an automatic latch associated with the means for withdrawing short stock from the machine when the end of the stock on the supply reel has been reached.

Figure 29 is a side elevation of the reel, certain parts being broken away andVA illustrating an automatic control for the reel to stop its rotation after the feeding mechanism stops advancing .the stock.

Figure 30 is a front elevation of the reelmechanism illustrated in Figure 29.

Before proceeding to a detail description` of the machine it should be stated that the machine may be designed to operate on round stock or any other form of stock, but in the present specification it is illustrated as adapted to operate upon substantially fiat stock. The machine illustrated cooperates with a conveyor that carries the boxes past the point at which the stock is applied to the box to form the band. I

When the box is in position to have the band applied to it, it is surrounded by a guide frame and before coming to this position the stock is fed in automatically around in this guide frame so that an overlapping portion of the stock is formed at a gap in this frame. Automatically controlled grippers are provided which hold the stock, and tensioning means is provided for developing a predetermined tension in the band. After this tension has been developed it is maintained automatically while the band is cut off from the stock and the tie formed automatically at the overlapping portions of the band. After the tie has been formed the machine operates automatically `to advance the stock so as to fill the guide frame around the box for the next tying operation. In order to enable the machine to operate at a high speed we provide a pulling mechanism which Voperates to pull the stock out of the guide frame which holds the same yieldingly) at a high speed until the stock is laid with a relatively slight tension around the box. As the tension on the band or' stock increases, a positive drive for the pulling mechanism comes into operation which develops a predetermined tension in the band. The machine is so constructed that as soon as the pulling mechanism has been set to develop tension in the band the tension of the stock or band assists in holding the pulling mechanism in engagement with the stock.

'In the preferred construction of the machine the tying mechanism consists of a pair of dies formed on jaws which engage the overlapping portions of the band and form these portions of the band into two concentric rolls which are offset laterally to form interlocking shoulders.

These dies will have the characteristics which enable them to form a tie such as illustrated Ain Patent No. 1,677,522, granted to Leo Harvey on thel 17th day of July, 1928. vThe.tying mechanism is supported inl a carriage which is located opposite the gap in the guide frame. In the present machine the tie has considerable length and. for this reason the gap'is. of considerable width. In this type of machine we prefer to provide a guide member'forA assisting in guiding the stock across the gap to produce two overlapping portions of the stock at this point, and this guide member is automatically withdrawn so as to permit the tie forming jaws to advance and 4form the tie against the side face of the box. If the tie is relatively short it may be unnecessary to provide a guide member in this gap. The carriage is guided for slight up and down movement on the main frame of the machine and when the tension comes onto the stock to tighten the band on the box there is a slight upward movement of the carriage. This is accomplished through the agency of a floating guide pulley which is mounted on a movable support or bracket on the carriage.

Also, when the tension is developed in the stock it causes a slight relative-movement of the support for the guide pulley and we utilize this relative movement to control the automatic operations of the machine, for example, the tensioning means that determines the amount of tension developed in the band and also the tension gripper that is set automatically after the desired tension has been developed in the band. In this connection it should be understood that when the band is in tension around the box it is gripped at both sides of the gap so that the overlapping portions of the band in which the tie isformed are not in tension. This is a desirable feature as dies of this kind operate much more eiectively on stock that is not under tension-and consequently, free to assume the shape impressed upon it by the dies. t

One of the novel features of the machine is that the pulley mechanism comprises two sets of rollers for pulling the stock and these rollers are connected by an equalizing device so that the vpull load is distributed between them. This enables a relatively high'tension to be developed in the stock without necessitating the employment of very great pressure between the rollers that grip the stock in developingthe tension.

As stated above, at the completion of the forming of the tie the machine operates automatically to feed forward the stock into the guide frame around the box preparatory to forming another band on the box. The stock is supplied to the machine from a reel and when the end of the reel is reached, if the stock is too short for the machine to operate upon it properly to form the band, then other automatic mechanism is immediately brought into operation which will withdraw the short piece of stock. In this connection it should be understood that in the preferred form of the machine, as soon as the stock has been completely fed into the machine an automatic operating anchor gripper grips the end of the stock so as to enable tension to be developed in the stock by the pulling mechanism. One of the featuresof the machine is that if this anchor gripper' has been set, then the withdrawing operation which would now normally withdraw theshortlength of stock, is automatically inhibited. l This is desirable in order to prevent any danger of breaking parts of the machine in case the short length of stock is of such length that it reaches back from the frame to the pulling mechanism. In other words, a normally short piece of stock would be withdrawn before its ,inner end reaches the anchor gripper. If the short piece of stock is longer than this and has been gripped at its inner end it will not be automatically withdrawn by the machine.

Another feature of novelty of the machine is that if the operator attempts to start themachine while he feeding mechanism is feeding the stock into the guide frame around the box, the machine will not start tooperate until the feeding operation of the stock has been completed. In other words, the condition ofthe feeding mechanism controls the starting of the machine and inhibits the starting unless the stock for forming the band is ready and in place.

Referring more particularly to the parts and especially to Figures 1 and 14, it will be noted that the machine includes a main frame I which carries the mechanism and at the forward end of this frame a substantially rectangular or square guide frame 2 is provided, theouter portion of the guide frame 2 being supported on an outer frame 3 (see Figure 14). Between the main frame I and the outer frame 3 a plurality of rollers 4 are provided which constitute a part of a conveyor for 'bringing the boxes in succession opposite the machine. In addition to this the adjacent upright frame b ar 9 of the frame 2 is preferably inclined away from the side wall 5 of the box to facilitate the removal of the stock from the frame as will appear hereinafter.

Referring to Figures 1 and 25, the frame I includes a main frame plate I that carries a large part of the mechanism of the machine including the feeding mechanism and the pulling mechanism. The upper part of the frame I is provided with rigid upright guide stanchions II and I2 which are substantially parallel with the forwardfaces of the guide blocks 1 and 9 of the machine. The mechanism of the machine is generally supported in a tilted position as will appear from an inspection of Figure 1.

The feeding mechanism for feeding the stock into the guide frame 2 includes a pair of feed rollers I3 and I4. located opposite to each other with their adjacent faces lying near an inclined guideway I which receives the stock and guides it in an upwardly inclined direction so that it passes around a floating pulley I6. the mounting for which will be described later. A portion of the periphery of this guide pulley I6 is encased in an arc shaped guide I1 that has a straight tangent extension or leading-in guideway I8 that guides the stock up toward the member 9 of the guide frame. The rollers I3 and I4 are normally held apart.

Thel roller I4 is continuously driven in the direction of the arrow and cooperates with the roller I3 when they engage the stock to advance it along the guideway I5 and up the guide extension I8 into the guide frame 2 and completely around the same so that the inner end I9 of the stock is arrested at a shoulder 20 formed on the guide block 1. Inthis way two overlapping portions 2I and 22Vare formed in the stock at the Ypoint where the tie is to be formed.

The roller I4 is continuously driven, being rigidly attached to the shaft 23 of an electric motor 24a (see Figure 25). The roller I3 is mounted so that it is normally held away from contact with the stock 24 and for this purpose the roller I3 is mounted on an eccentric neck 26 formed on a shaft 21, said shaft having a bell crank lever 28 rigidly secured to the same, the horizontal arm of which is connected to a link 29 that extends downwardly to a point near a bracket 30 at which point a coil spring 3l is provided that thrusts upwardly against the end of this link. This spring 3l therefore urges the shaft 21 to rotate in a diirection which will move the eccentric bearing 26 downwardly to bring the face of the roller against the stock lying o the upper face of the roller I4. The roller I3 is continuously driven by a gear I4a. that constantly meshes with a gear I3a rigid with the roller I3. A construction simiiar to this is illustrated at II5 in Figure 26. The teeth of the gears I4a and I3a of course mesh more closely together when the rollers I3 and I4 aregripping the stock.

Metering mechanism is provided for normally holding the roller I3 elevated and for periodically causing it to'grip the stock for a sufiicient period' of time to enable the movement of the rollers I3 and I4 to advance a predetermined quantity of stock. For this purpose we provide en by back-gearing from the motor shaft 23, iny cluding a pinion 34 and an idler gear 35 driven thereby, said idler having a pinion 36 that meshes y with a large gear wheel 31. This large gear wheel 31 is therefore continuously driven in the direction of the arrow in Figure 1.

This mechanism includes a clutch 38, of which the gear wheel 31-constitutes the driving member. 'I'his clutch is normally held open, but when permitted to close, allows the hollow hub of clutch member 43 to make one revolution and then mechanism controlled by this hub 44 pulls the link 29 downwardly, thereby raising the roller I3 and stopping the feeding movement of the stock. In order to accomplish this, we provide a floating clutch member 39 in the form of a disk having a plurality of pins 40 carrying rollers 4I, and these rollers lie in tapered pockets 42 formed on a driven clutch member 43, said drivenl clutch member having a hub 44 carrying two cams 45 and 46.

At the deep ends of the pockets 42 the rollers 4I may engage threaded adjustable stops 42a (see Fig. 20).

The disk 39 has a large tooth 41 projecting outwardly from it, which is normally detained by an escapement or detent device 48 which is automatically controlled by the mechanism of the machine. The cam 46 at one point on its periphery has a tooth 49 that normally engages the arm 50 of a bell crank lever 5I, which arm is attached by a pivot pin 52 to the link 29. With this organization of parts it will be evident that when the cam 46 is in the position illustrated, the

link 29 will be held down and the feeding mechy anism will be held out of operation.

The gear 31 which constitutes. the driving member of the clutch 38 has a cylindrical face 53 which lies adjacent to the outer side of the rollers 4I. With this organization of parts it will be evident that if the disk 39 is held against rotation, the movement of the gear 31 in the direction of the arrow (see Figure 20) will merely produce a rotation of the rollers 4I on their pins without transmitting any movement to the driven clutch member 43. However, if the tooth 41 is released, the rollers 4I, and their pins 40, will be carried forward in their corresponding tapering pockets and themember 43 will be driven with the rollers in the small end of the tapered puckets 42.

The escapement device 48 includes a controlling shaft I4 (see Figures 1 and 20) which shaft is mounted with its axis parallel to the axes of the guide posts Il and I2, the lower end of the shaft being mounted in a suitable bracket 56. This shaft has a limited rocking motion through a small angle to and fro', which movement is given automatically to this shaft through the agency of a part connecting with the tying mechanism so `that the shaft will operate to liberate the tooth 41 after the tie has been completed.

The detent mechanism includes two detent dogs I8 and 61, the former of which is rigidly seein-ed to the shaft 54, whilethe latter is freelyl mounted on the shaft and is attached to a coil spring I8 disposed around the shaft. This spring is attached to the hub 68 of the dog 61 so that the spring urges the dog 51 toward dogw56, that is, the direction vof the arrow adjacent to it in .Figure 22. The,coil spring 58 not only tends to rotate the dog 51 in the direction of the arrow, but it also urges the dog downwardly so that 1t tends to hold it against a stop collar `v6|) below it on the shaft.

In the position of the parts shown in Figures and 21, the tooth 41 is in engagement with the underside of the dog 51, thereby holding the same with its tip raised to the level of the dog 66, maintaining the spring 58 in compression.

The first rocking movement of the shaft 64 will be in ay clock-wise direction from the posi- -tion indicatedl in Figure 2l, thereby bringing the dogs into the relation shown in Figure 22.

This releases the tooth 41 from the dog 61 but holds the dog sa in front of the tooth. This permits the spring 68 to move the dog 51 a lower level (see Figure 24) The next rocking movement of the shaft 54 is anti-clockwise. This moves the dog 56 out of line with the tooth 41 (see Figure 23), and permits the tooth 41 and the disk 88 to escape.

down* to a When this occurs the toothv 41 for a few seconds detains the dog 51, and as soon as the tooth 41 passes'away from the dog 51. the yspring movesv the dog 81 over against the dog 66, thereby placing it in the relative position shown in Figurel 21 and enabling the dog 61 to stop the tooth 41 at the end of one revolution. At the' end of this revolution the tooth 48 will have engaged the arm 58 of the bell crank lever 5I and thereby raised the roller I3. In this way a certain predetermined quantity of stock will be fed forward. The precise moment of controlling bell crank 5| is determined by means to be described hereinafter. y

A handle 59a is vprovided on hub |59 for controlling these parts by hand.

Referring to Figure 14, it will be noted that' pose the carriage is provided vwith Vguide rollers 61 that yengage these posts. This carriage 64 carries the tying mechanism and also carries the Slippers which engage the stockaty dierent times during the operation of the machine.

After the stock has been fed into the frame, as

already described, the machine operates automatically to close an anchor gripper 68 (see Figure 1), which gripper is mounted on the under side of the plate 86. This gripperis illustr .ted

in detail in Figures 4 and 5, and in Figures 3 and 6 the controlling mechanism for this gripper is illustrated. Thisvgripper. is combined in its construction with a secondary gripper, or holder gripper, which is utilized to maintain a hold on the stock at times when the stock would other-4 wise be released.

The anchor gripper and this holding gripper have a common gripper jaw between them. 'I'his construction will now be described.

Referring particularly to" Figures 3 and 4, the guide block 8 already referred to ,constitutes the outer jaw of the anchor gripper 68 and cooperating with this fixed `jaw 8 we provide a movable jaw 69. This jawj'is is in the form of a block cutaway on its inner side to form a cham.- ber to receive the jaw18, which constitutes the holding gripper cooperating with the outer face 1I of the gripper jaw 69. This block 66 that forms the jaw carries a transverse rocker pin 12 that` has two eccentric necks 13 on it which are received in corresponding openings 14 formed in the sides of this gripper block 68. When this rocker pin 12 is rotated in the proper direction, the eccentric necks 13 will cause the jaw 69 to move over toward the block or jaw 8 and clamp the stock' end 25.' This jaw 69 is guided in a chamber in a block or bracket 15 that is attached to the under side of plate 66. In

order to rock the pin 12 at the proper time and to control its operation so as to set the anchor gripper v68, the pin 12 carries a rigidly attached actuating lever 16,V (see Figure 3).

Reference is now had to Figure 3, which is a section on the line 3 3 in Figure 1- looking upwardly and illustrating this' actuating lever 16 and its cooperating parts. On the end of the pin 12, below the lever 16, `vwe provide a supporting lever 11 that supports a bell crank lever 18 on-a pivot pin 18. Lever 11 is loose on pin 12.

- This bell crank lever 18 has an arm 8i!v (see Fig. 3) that operates as a toggle link connected by a pin 8l to a toggle link 82, the outer end of which is pivotally attached to the end of lever 16. These two toggle links 88 and 82 have shoulders 83 and 84 that abut together when the toggle is in its set position as indicated in Figure 3. The pin 85 that connects the lever 16 to the toggle link. 82 is connected by a tension spring 86 in the form of a coil with a xed pin on the under side of the frame plate 86. The bell crank lever 18 has a short arm 81 for actuating it to break the toggle joint at the pin 8|,

and thereby permit the spring 86 to rotate the arm 16 and thereby close the jaw 68 of the lanchor gripper. Iii-order to trip this actuating mechanism, including this toggle joint and theassociated parts, we'provide a trigger 88 which is pivotally attached to an arm 89 rigidly secured on a rock shaft 98. Themovements of this rock shaft are partially controlled by the bell crank lever 28 as will be described hereinafter. A coil.

spring 9| is provided that is secured at one'end to a pin 92 on the under side of the plate 66 and attached at the point 93 to the trigger 88. l'his spring is attached sothat' the pull of the spring holds the trigger iis-against the end ortho ac-A tuatingarm81.

'nsA

The means for actuating this trigger 88 will now be described.

Referring to Figure 1, the bell crank lever 28 has an upwardly extending arm 94 that terminates in a finger 95 which lies adjacent to a collar 96 on a shift-rod 91, the inner end of which is attached pivotally to an arm 98 that is rigidly attached to the rock shaft 90. Referring to Figure 1, it will be noted that the lower end of the rock shaft 90 is supported on a bracket plate 99 secured to the side of the frame I.

When the feedingmovement occurs through the agency of the cooperating feed rollers I3 and I4, the bell crank lever 28 has been rocked `in an anti-clockwise direction, and when this occurs, the finger 95 engages the collar 96 and pulls the rod 91 toward the left, as indicated by the solid-line arrow in Figure 3. 'I'his movement will pull the trigger 88 toward the left and enable its end to seat itself against a shoulder 81a on the arm 81, and against stop pin Y92.

When the feeding roller I3 is raised due to moving away of the tooth 49 (see Figure 1), the finger 95 will move toward the right, and this will permit the shift-rod 91 to move toward the right, as indicated by the dotted line arrow in Figure 3. This shifting to the right occurs by reason of spring 9| and causes the trigger 88 to shove the arm 81 to the right and in this way break the toggle joint at the pin 8| and enable the spring 86 to pull these parts into the relation shown in Figure 6.

In doing this the arm or lever 16 will be rotated in an anti-clockwise direction as indicated by the arrow in Figure 3 (viewing the parts from below), and this movement will move the jaw 69 toward the jaw or block 8 and clamp the stock. The stock is now held ready for the pulling mechanism to pull the stock against the box to form the band.

When the stock is fed into the frame 2, it passes up from the straight guide extension I8 (see Figure 1) into the space between the holding jaw 10 and the jaw 69 of the anchor gripper. This jaw 10 is formed on the end of a' bar |00 that is guided to slide in the block 15 (see Figure 4). The end of the bar |00 is connected by an offset link |I to the arm 89 already described. Ihe connection to the link is effected through the agency of a pin |02 (that attaches trigger 88 to arm 89) and a slot |03. This slot |03 causes a slight lost motion at this point, which is necessary. The middle portion of the bar |00, near the jaw 10, is provided with a slot |04 (see Figure 5) that provides clearance for the middle portion of pin 12 and provides a construction that enables the jaw 10 to be operated in spite of the fact that the pin 12 extends through the bar.

With this organization of parts, it will. be evident that when the shift bar 91 moves toward the left, as viewed in Figure 3, it will, in the last part of its movement, pull the jaw 10 away from the jaw 1|. This leaves the holding gripper open to enable the stock to be fed into the frame 2. On the other hand, when the shift bar 91 moves toward the right, the last part of its movement will cause the jaw 10 to cooperate with the jaw 69 to hold the stock at this point. The spring 9| exerts its force to hold this jaw 10 against the stock, and to hold bar 91 to the right.

After the stock has been fed 'into the frame 2 and the anchor gripper 68 has been closed to hold the inner end of the stock, then the pulling mechanism may come into operation to pull the stock out oi the frame and against the box. If desired, the pulling mechanism may be controlled automatically to start when this condition exists and the box is in position, but in the present illustration, the pulling mechanism is started to operate by the operation of a movable member, by the operator of the machine, for example, a hand lever or a pedal.

'I'he pulling mechanism and the means for setting it into operation will now be described.

In this connection it should be stated that in order to avoid exertion of too greata pull at a single point on the stock, we prefer to employ two pairs of pulling rollers (see Figure 1), in which |05 and |06 indicate one pair of these rollers, and |01 and |08 indicate another pair of rollers. The two rollers |06 and |08 are continuously driven in the direction of the arrows by suitable gearing which will be described hereinafter. The faces of these rollers are arranged so that they lie adjacent to the guideway I5 through which the stock passes into the machine, but the rollers |05 and |01 are normally held in an elevated position so that the stock is not gripped between the pairs of rollers., Foi-'this purpose the roller |05 is mounted on an eccentric neck |09 formed on a shaft IIO. This shaft has a rigid arm I I, the upper end o'f which is attached to an equalizer link ||2. The upper end of the link I I2 is attached to another link |I3 that is attached to an arm ||4 similar tothe arm and rigidly carried on a shaft ||5 which is like the shaft ||0 and formed with eccentric neck I6 for the roller |01. Rigid with the rollers |06 and |08 we provide gear wheels |I1 and ||8 that mesh respectively with similarv gear wheels ||9 and |20 that are rigid respectively with the rollers |05 and |01. The teeth of these gears are relatively long so that they will continue to mesh and drive the upper rollers in spite of the slight up-and-down movement which the gears and the upper rollers have in the operation of the machine. v

The equalizer link ||2 is pivotally attached at its middle point to a nearly horizontal control bar or shift bar |2I, the right-hand end of which, as viewed in Figure 1, is attached by a. pivot pin |22 to a bell crank lever |23 having a short arm |24 and a long arm |25. Although a.l

single shift bar |2| can be employed, we prefer to bifurcate this bar at this point so that it has two forks located on opposite sides of the bell crank lever |23. The short arm |24 of the lever |23 is pivoted near its outer end by means of a pin |26 to allever |21 which is pivotally supported on a pivot pin |28 to a bracket |29 extending down from the under side of the carriage frame plate 66.

Carried on the same pivot pin |28 we provide a support for the floating pulley I6 which support is in the form of a long bracket lever |30, the middle portion of which carries the shaft |3| of the pulley, the lower portion of the lever being formed with an inclined arm |32 that diverges from the lower end of the long lever |21. 'Ihe lower end of the lever |21 and the lower end of the arm |32 are connected by a toggle connection including two toggle links |33 and |34, the latter link having an extension |35 for operating the toggle. 'I'he toggle pin |36 is connected by a long coil spring |31 with a pin |38 on the side of the long lever |21. Although a.

single lever |21 and a single bracket lever |30 may be employed, we prefer to employ two of annual between two arms or levers |30 on the outerk l sides of which the two long'levers |21 lie.

The lower ends of the arms|32 are connected to the lower ends of the levers |21 by coil spring |39.

The extension is provided with a projecting stop to come against a stop |4'| near the lower end of the arm |32. When the machine is at rest the toggle composed of the links |33 and |34 is broken in a downward direction as indicated by the dotted lines below the full lines, (see Fig. 1)

When the operator of the machine desires to place the band in tension, the extension |35 is pushed downwardly rby means that will be described hereinafter. This sets the toggle joint formed by the links |33 and |34 into the position in which they are shown in full lines, and this causes a swinging movement of the levers 21 toward the left and produces a shifting movement of the shift bar |2| toward the left. This will rotate the shafts ||0 and ||5 in a direction to move the rollers |05 andv |01l down to grip the stock against the faces of the rollers |06 and |08. This will cause the rollers to pull in the stock from the frame 2 and lay it in the form of a band against the side of the box.

Associated with the bell crank lever |23 and the shift bar |2| we provide tension mechanism which determines the amount o'f tension to which the band will be subjected before forming the tie. For this purpose the arm |25 of the bell crank lever |23 is pivotally attached at its ends to a toggle Vlink |42 which is` pivotally attached by means of .a toggle pin |48 to'a similar toggle' link |44 that is pivotally attached at its lower end by a pin |45 to the shift bar, or shift bars, |2I.

The toggle link |42 has a stop |46 which at this time rests against the upper edge of the shift bar or bars |2|, and the link |44 is provided with a similar stop |41. The toggle pin |43 is connected by a coil spring |48 with the pin |22.

In connection'with the mode of operationof this tension mechanism, attention isvcalled to Figure 2. which shows these toggle links in the other extreme position which they may occupy.

Assuming that the partsv are in the position in which they are shown in Figure 1 when the pullingmechanism including 'the rollers |05 to |08 exerts a pull upon thestock, the pull of the stock on the floating pulley I6 will exert a thrust at thepin |26 in the short arm |24 of the bell crank lever |23l This line of thrust will be below the axis of the pin |22.

This thrust force will therefore exert a turning moment on the bell crank lever |23, causing the left end of the arm |25 to rise. This upward swinging movement of the arrn |25 will continue until the 'toggle links |42 and |44 ,assume the position indicated in Figure 2 with the stop |41 seated against the shift bar |2|. Thismolvement A of the toggle links |42 and |44 is utilized to start the tying mechanism in operation by means which will be hereinafter described.

When the toggle 'links arrive at the position indicated in Figure 2, no further upward rotation of the arm |25 cantake place, vTherefore the lever |21 'can not swing any further toward the left. The continued application of tension to the 'stock will thencause a breaking of the toggle formed between the toggle links |33 and |34,'causing these links to break down to ja position such as that indicated by the dotted lines (Figure 1). This will cause the spring |30 to pull the lever |21 toward the right and thereby pull shift bar |2| toward the right, and this will operate the arms and ||4 to rock the shafts of the rollers |05 and |01 in a direction to lift these rollers off of the rollers |06 and |08, thereby ending the tensioning operation.

Before this toggle |33|34 breaks, however, the movement of the bell crank lever |23 into the position in which it is indicated in Figure 2 will Aeffect the automatic setting of a tension gripper |48a that includes the rear faceof the block 1 as its fixed Jaw, and also includes a movable Jaw |49. This gripper jaw |49 is mounted and actuated in a manner substantially similar to the jaw 69 of the anchor gripper illustrated in Figure 4 except that its construction is not complicated by the presence of the holder gripper 10.

The block 1 has a chamber |50 in it (see Figure 12), in which the jaw |49 is loosely guided, said jaw being mounted on an eccentric neck |5| carried on a rotatable pin |52. 'This pin |52 (see Figure '1) has actuating mechanism |53 substantially similar in its construction to the actuating mechanism for the anchor gripper illustrated in Figure 3, and this mechanism |53 is tripped by a long tail arm |54 that extends up from the upper end of lever |21 that extends through a slot |55 in the upper plate 65 of the carriage 64. 'I'he mechanism |53 includes an arm |56 rigidly connected to the pin |52 and connected by toggle links |51 and |56 with an arm |59 that is loose on the pin |52. The toggle 1ink |58 is in the form of a bell crank lever having an actuating arm that extends over toward the tail arm |54 and carries'a spring-presseddog |6| in the4 path of this arm when it moves.

The bell crank lever 60 end of the arm |59 by a pin |62, and a coil spring |63 is mounted on the pin |62 and attached to the arms |59 and |60 exerting its force in a direction to hold the toggle in a set position, or away from the pin |52.` 'Ihe toggle links are connected by a a toggle vpin |64 adjacent to which they are provided with the abutting shoulders |65 and |66 which limit the outward swinging movement of the toggles, and when the mechanism is set for tripping, this toggle pin 64 is locatedbeyond the line of pull of Aa long coil spring' |61 that is attached to the pivot pin |68 at the outer end of toggle link |51, which pin attaches this toggle link to the arm |56.

Referring to Figure 7, it will be evident that if the tail arm |54 moves toward the right in its slot it will rock the bell crank lever |60 in an anticlockwise direction, and this will "break" the toggle joint, throwing the pin |64 inwardly. As soon as the pin |64 passes the line of pull of the spring |81, this movement is quickly completed and the force of the spring swings the arm |56 in a direction to rotate the pin |52 and apply the jaw |49 to hold the stock 24 in the ltension gripper |48a. y V

This maintains the band around the box under a predetermined tension and .the stock is ready to be vcut of! at the lower edge of the gap in the frame 2l`preparatory to having the tie formed in the overlapping portions 2| and 22 of the band.

When this stage of the cycle ofoperations is v reached, the tie forming mechanism will have already been started automatically through the agency of themovement of the toggle links |42 and |44 into the position in which they are indiis supported on the `the space immediately cated ln Figure 2. The mechanism for doing this will now be described (see Figure 1).

The toggle link |44 is connected by the pin |43 with a link |69, the end of which is pivotally attached to the actuating arm |10 of a dog |1|. When the parts assume the position indicated in Figure 2, this dog engages a latch 12 and kicks it oil of a pin |13 that is holding the latch up. -The mounting for the said pin |13 will be described hereinafter. A

The lower end of the latch |12 is pivotally attached by a. pin |14- to a long clutch lever |15 mounted on a fulcrum pin |16 secured on the frame of the machine, (see Figs. 1 and 25) This clutch lever |15 is holding open a clutch |11 having a closing spring |18, and as soon as the clutch lever is permitted to fall, the spring |18 closes the clutch and commences rotation of a substantially vertical shaft |19.`

The lower end of this shaft is mounted in a step bearing and carries a. bevel pinion |8| rigid with a sleeve |82 rotatably mounted on the This bevel pinion |8| is continuously driven through the agency of a bevel pinion |83 (see Figure 25) rigid with a gear |83a driven by a pinion 23a on shaft 23. The upper end of the shaft |19 (see Figure 7), carries a pinion |84 that meshes with a large gear wheel |85. This gear wheel is mounted for rotation at the upper part of the frame Through a flexible driving connection |86 this gear wheel drives a crank shaft |81 that is part of the tie forming mechanism, but before describing the tie forming mechanism it should be explained how clearance for the operation of the tie forming jaws is obtained in the Vicinity of the overlapping portions 2| and 22 of the band. In this connection reference is had to Figure 9 in connection with Figure 1. Figure 9 illustrates a guide member |88 which is in the form of a block having two guide slots |89 and |90 cut in its side face. These slots receive and guide portions 2| and 22 of the stock. This guide member |88 is attached at its upper and lower ends to two arms 9| and |92, the former of which is loca-ted above the upper frame plate 65 of the carriage, and the latter of which is located below the lower frame plate 66 of the carriage.

Referring particularly to vFigures 3 and 7, it will be noted that these arms |9| and |92 each have a pin |93 projecting from it. On the upper arm |9| this pin projects upwardly, and on the lower arm |92 the pin projects downwardly. On the upper side of the machine the pin |93 is engaged by an actuating lever |94 mounted on` a fixed pin |95 projecting up from the plate 65. In a similar manner the pin 93 on the under side of the plate 66 is engaged by a similar actuating lever |96 mounted to rotate about a pin |91 `fixed in the under side of the plate 66.

When the tie forming mechanism begins its forward movement, these arms |94 and |96 are swung outwardly on their pivots. In other words, referring to Figure 7, both these arms move in the direction indicated by the arrow adjacent the arm |94. This movement causes the arms |9| and |92 to swing in the direction of the arrow carrying with them the guide member or block |88 which is attached to them. In this way surrounding the overlapping portions 2| and 22 of the band is cleared for action of the tie forming jaws.

The tie forming mechanism and the conneca tie, and they tion which enables it to swing the arms |94'and 96 out will now be described.

'I'his tie forming mechanism, as pointed out above, includes the'crank shaft |81 (see Figures 1 and 7), which is actuated through the flexible connection |86. The crank of the' crank shaft |81 carries a connecting rod |98,l the end of which carries a cross-head |99 in the form of a long pin (see Figure 10), and the ends of this pin run in slots 200 formed in the plates 65 and 66. The ends of the pin beyond the plates 65 and 66 are connected with the arms |94 and |96 respectively by links 20| and 202.

With this organization of parts it will be evident that when the pin I 99 moves toward the right in the slots 200, the links 20| and 202 Will operate to swing the arms |94 and |96 outwardly,

and this through the operation of the pins |93,

will effect the withdrawal of the guide member |88. As the tie forming mechanism advances to form the tie, the overlapping portion 22 of the band is cut olf at the point 203 (see Figure 1), by means of shears including a fixed cutter 204 and a movable cutter 205 (see Figure 11).

The construction of the tie forming jaws and the lmanner in which the knife is automatically operated will now be described, referring particularly to Figures 7, 10 and 11.

The cross-head pin |99 is attached to two pairs of toggle links 206 and 201, the pair of links 206 being attached by a pivot pin 208 to the operating arm 209/ of a tie forming jaw 2|0 and the other, link 201,being similarly attached to the operating arm 209 of an opposing tie forming jaw 2| 0. The two jaws are preferably crimping jaws, that is they distort the metal of the binder into into the gap. They, withtheir arms or handles, on a relatively large pivot pin 2| and the ends of this pin 2|| are guided to slide in straight guide grooves 2|2 formed in the adjacent faces of the plates 65 and 66 of the carriage. The jaws 2|0 are provided respectively with dies 2|2a having the general form indicated in Figure 11. When the crank of the crank shaft |81 advances through the rotation of the crank shaft in the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 7, the jaw pin 2|| will slide toward the box in the guide grooves 2|2. In order to cause the jaws 2|0 to approach each other as this movement takes place, I provide the cams 2|3 on opposite sides of the arms 209. These cams have parallel guide faces 2|4 which form guides to enable the arms` 209 to slide along during the lrst part of the movement until the fare mounted to move in unison ends of the arms arrive at cam faces 2| 5, at which time the inclined thrusts in the links 206 and 201 cause the arms 209 to become spread apart, thereby causing the dies of the jaws to approach each other. l

When the movement takes place along the cam faces 2|5, it should be understood that the jaws 2|0 will have arrived at the side of the boX, and as the dies come together the overlapping portions 2| and 22 of the band will be rolled into two telescoping rolls, and the sides of the rolls offset into each other to form a tie of the character illustrated in Patent No. 1,677,522, referred to above.

The actuation of the cutter 205 is indicated in Figure 11. When the pin 2|| is in the outer end of the guide grooves 2|2, the pin engages a cam edge 2| 6 on a cam arm 2 I 1 and thereby holds the blade 205 away from its cooperating fixed cutter. When the pin 2|| advances it slides along down v the inner edge of the arm 2|1 and eventually off the stock. This cutter has a slight excess movement which operates by the fziction of the severed edge against the side of the blade. to

move the severed end of the stock over against the overlapping portion 2|. In this way the cutter assists in holding the overlapping portions of the band juxtaposed on each other when the dies 2 I 2a form the tie.

After the tie has been formed, the machine operates automatically to reopen the anchor gripper and the tension gripper.

In order to reset the anchor gripper 68 (see Figure 3), we provide a link 2| 9 that is connected by pin 228 and slot 22| with the arm |96, the other end of this link being attached to pin 19. In a similar manner (see Figure 7) we connect the arm |94 by a link 222 with the pin |62, employing a pin 223 and a slot 224.

With this organization of parts, and referring to Figure '1, it will be evident that when the arm |94 swings outwardly the pin 223 will pull on the link 222. This will tend to rock the toggle mechanism |53 in a clockwise direction on the pin |52, but as the arm |56 is at the limit of its movement in this direction (because the gripper is closed), it is evident that the toggle links |51 and |58 will be pulled out to their straight Y condition. As they arrive at this position, the spring |63 will urge them in a direction to carry the toggle pin |64 beyond center, thereby setting the toggle in its open position. When the arm |94 returns to the position in which it is indicated in Figure 7, the set toggle links with the levers |56 and |59 will be swung back to the position in which they are indicated in Figure 7. The pawl |6| will not interfere with this swinging movement of the arm |68 in either direction by engaging the tail arm |54, by reason of the presence ofY a coil spring |6|a that holds it in the position indicated in Figure 7.

The link 2|! resets the toggle mechanismv including links 88 and 82 (see Figure 3) in the same manner as described above for the toggle links |51 and |58. 'I'he arms |9| vand |92, together with the guide block |88 which they carry, are returned automatically by a spring. to bring the block |88 back into its normal position in the gap 63. This spring |9|b (see Figure 7) has one end anchored on a pin on the plate 65 and the other end attached to a tail-arm I9 Ia formed integral with the arm |9| and extending outwardly from its pivot pin |95.

The automatic rocking of the shaft 54 alreadyl described to control itsv movement automatically from the tie-forming mechanism is effected by a link I9 |c that is pivotally attached to an arm 54a (see Figure 7), rigidly carried by the upper end of this shaft 54. The other end of link |9|c has a slot |9|e receiving a pin |9|d on the tail-arm |9|a.

1f the box which has had the band applied to it has not' been removed, the guidemember |88 (see Figures 8 and 14), is automatically prevented.

from swinging back into the gap 63 inthe frame. In order to accomplish this, we provide the guide member |88 with a dog 225 that is mounted on a substantially vertical pivot pin 226. This dog projects outwardly from the forward face of the vguide member 88 (see Figures and 9), has an inclined rear face 228, but has a forward edge 221 which is disposed substantially at right angles to the plane of the forward tace of the guide member |88.

When the box advances into position to be banded, the inclined face 228 of this pawl perl mits the pawl to swing inwardly. In other words,

this pawl projects in an inclined direction and in the general direction in which the box moves when coming into place to be banded. Furthermore, by reason of the fact that this pawl can swing inwardly as described, it does not interfere with the outward swinging movement of the guide member |88. However, when the guide member |88 swings back, if there is a box in place this pawl 225 would engage its side and prevent the guide member from returning.

The tie forming mechanism illustrated in Figure 7 is constructed so that the crankshaft |81 will make one revolution and stop, and thereby bring the crank 229 back to the position in which it is illustrated in Figure 7, the direction of rotation being indicated by the arrow. In order to accomplish this the large gear wheel |85 has cam 238 rigidly secured to its underside and this cam hasa dip or recess 23| at one point on its periphery in which a roller 232 lies when this mechanism is at rest. When the cam rotates with the gear wheel |85 this cam roller 232 actuates a lever 233 that carries it, to move the substantially vertical arm 234 of a bell crank lever 235, which bell crank lever has a substantially horizontal arm 236 (see Figure l). This arm carries the pin |13 already referred to that normally holds up the latch |12, the release of which effects the closing'of the clutch |11 that drives the gear wheel |85 through pinion |84. The lever 233 (Figure 7) is pivotally mounted on a fixed pin 231. With this organization of parts it will be evident that when the gear wheel |85 commences its rotation in an anti-clockwise direction, the roller 232 will ride up on the regular circumferential face of the cam 238, thereby giving the arm 234 a movement toward the right as viewed in Figure 7. This will cause the bell crank lever 235 to rock in a righthand direction, thereby causing the pin |13 to ride down on the inclined edge 238 of the latch and pass under the shoulder of the latch. This latch |12 is constantly pulled over toward its latching position by a small coil spring 239. This spring will cause the latch to engage itself with the pin |13 but the latch will still be in its depressed position, leaving the clutch |11 closed. When the gear 'wheel |85 has completed one revolution the roller 232 will come back into the recess or dip 23| in the cam, thereby causing the bell crank arm 234 to swing toward the left, as viewed in Figure 1. This will causethe arm 236 of the bell crank lever 235 to rise, thereby pulling up on the latch |12 and lifting the clutch lever |15 and thereby y This pulls in the stock 24 at a relatively highrate of speed and quickly pulls it out of the guide lframe 2, taking up all the slack and pulling the stock tight around the box to form the band.

` This `effect is preferably accomplished through the agency of an over-riding clutch which is so constructed thateit will transmit a drive frictionally at a high speed and when slippage occurs in the friction drive, the clutch immediately becomes a. positive driving clutch for pulling in the stock at a slower speed, thereby enabling the tensioning mechanism to cooperate with it to de velop the desired predetermined tension in the band. This clutchV is illustrated particularly in Figures 18, 19 and 25. .it comprises a gear wheel 24| which is driven at a high vspeed from the pinion 23B on the motor shaft 26. This gear wheel 24| is loose on the clutch shaft 283 and is pressed by a coil spring 246 against a liner plate 265 which is carried on the side face of a driven clutch member 246 which is rigidly secured to the clutch shaft 263.

Loosely mounted on the clutch shaft 263 is a positive driving clutch. member 22? which is in the form of a gear wheel positively driven by back gearing from the high speed gear 26|, said back centfaces of the driving member 261 and the driven member 256 are constructed so that they will give a one-way drive from the clutch member 251 to the clutch member 256 if the speed of the clutch member 236 is less than that of the clutch member 261. .any suitable mechanism may be employed for this purpose but in the present instance I employ a well known one-way drive clutch involving the use of a plurality of cam faces 252 on which ride corresponding rollers A253, said rollers being retained by the inner circumerential face 25d of a ange on the member 2&6. llVith this organization of parts it will be evident that as long as the driven clutch member 246 is moving at a higher speed than the cam faces 252, the rollers 253 will keep up against the radial shoulders 255 associated with the cam faces and lie idly at this point but if the friction drive through the friction plate 2&5 slips, the cam faces 252 will immediately advance relatively to the driven clutch member 246, thereby pinching the rollers 253 between the cam faces and the circumferential face 25d-to cause a positive drive to be transmitted at the speed determined by the ratios of the gearing of the back gear drive through the countershaft 250.

As stated above, the stock supplied to the ma- I chine is taken from a reel and it is evident that when the stock on the reel is consumed the machine might operate to feed in the last piece of stock o the reel which might be too short for the machine to operate upon, thereby enabling the stock 'to get out of control of the ma.- chine with the possibility of causing trouble. The machine, therefore, is provided with automatic means for withdrawing such a short piecer of stock which is too short to be properly controlled within the machine. Referring to Figure l, the guideway I5 is provided with a small arcuate recess 266 adjacent the pulling roller lill formed in the underside of the guideway and -across which the stock 24 passes as it goes into the machine. This stock supports a roller 251 above the recess 256 and this roller is carried on the lower end of a latch bar 258 that is guided to move up or down in a. suitable guide 259 and urged in a downward direction by a small coil spring 260. This latch bolt or bar has a small handle 26| for pulling it up by hand when this is desired.

When stock is in the machine the upper end, of this latch bar 258 engages with the lower end of a lever 262 mounted on a xed pivot pin 283 and pulled by a coil spring 286 so that this lever 262 tends to swing in a clockwise directiom The spring is resisted by the latch bar 258. The lower end of this lever 262 .is connected up by a suitable means withrthe eccentric shafts of the feed rollers and pulling rollers so that the operation of the feed rollers can be inhibited and the pulling rollers brought into operation to withdraw the stock. lThis connection preferably in cludes a lost motion connection consisting of a pin 265` on the lower end, of the lever 262 which moves in a slot 266 formed in the end of a link 261, the other end of the said link being attached to a lever 26B. This lever is pivotally attached to the arm i il and its lower end is attached to a substantially horizontal link 269 which is pivotally attached at its other end to the arm 96 of bell crank lever 26. Through the ,link 261 and these connected parts just described the bell crank lever 28 will be rocked in a clockwise direction and this will swing the -eccentric 26 away from the roller I4, thereby stopping the feeding movement. This movement will be resisted by spring 3| at the foot of link 29 and will produce a thrust in the bar 269 in a direction to swing down roller |05. This will cause the roller |05 to grip the stock against roller B06 and the stock will be immediately withdrawn by the pulling rollers |05 and |06. When the rear end of the stock moving back in the guideway comes against the roller 251, this roller will be occupying the' recess 256 andthe stock will pass under it and `down through the inclined guide slot 210, thereby expelling the short pieceof stock from the machine. In the performance of this function of withdrawing a short piece of stock it will be evident that a condition may arise in which the inner end of the stock 2| will have arrived at the-shoulder 20 just as the rear .end of the `stock passes under the roller 251, thereby permitting the withdrawing function of the machine to be performed. In this connection, it should be remembered that when the stock isfed in, it is automatically gripped by the anchor gripper 68 and if this has already occurred when'the machine commences to perform its withdrawing function, the stock might be broken in the machine.

ln order to prevent such a contingency arising we provide automatic means for inhibiting the operation of the trigger or lever 262 if the anchor gripper 68 has been actuated to grip .the inner end of the stock. For this purpose attention is called to Figure 28 in connection with Figure l. We provide a detent means for the lever 262 preferably in the form of a. hook 21| having an operating handle 212 and pivotally attached on a iixed bracket 213. 'Ihe handie or arm 212 for the hookis pivotally attached to the endI of the shift rod 91 already described. Now, if the shift rod is occupying its position displaced toward the right, which is the position it would occupy (by reason of its connection to the rock shaft 60), when the anchor gripper 68 is closed, then the hook 21| will be projecting into the path of the lever 262, as indicated in FigureA 28, and the pulling rollers |05 and |01 will not be operated to pull the stock out. y

As already described, in the normal operation of the machine. when ythe tie forming mechanism completes thev forming of the tie the feed mechanism including feed roller |3 is automatically controlled through rock shaft 90 4and shift bar 91 to permit the feed roller |3 to move down to engage the stock and clamp it against the face of feed roller |4.

This automatically starts the feeding 1n of the stock. Now. if the operator of the machine should operate the starting lever |35 by setting the toggle links |33, |34 in the position in which they are shown in Figure 1, the machine would immediately start to operate to pull the stock through the medium of rollers and |01 to tension the band. In order to linsure that the machine cannot be started to tension the band and form the tie unless the guide frame 2 has been loaded with the stock, We provide an inhibiting device for preventing the starting of the machine. For this purpose we connect the arm 214 of the bell crank lever 5| to a control member or bar 215 that slides up and engages the right hand side of the lower end of the fioating support |30 for the guide pulley |6. This contr\ol member 215 operates as a` movable back stop for the member |30 and if it is not in place, the setting of the toggle links |33 and |34 in the position indicated in Figure 1 will not cause the floating lever |21 to swing toward the left. This back stop 215 slides upwardly in contact with a stop pin 216 that is spring-pressed in a forward direction by a coil spring 211. In order to enable this operation to take place the upper end of the back stop 215 is tapered on one or both sides. As illustrated in Figure 1, the back-stop 215 is provided with a earn face 218 on its right handgside that slides against the tip of the stop pin 216. The force of spring 211 should be adjustable for which purpose the rear end of the spring thrusts against an adjustable plug 219 threaded into the rear end of the`guide 280 1n which the stop pin 216 is guided. The arm 214 is connected to the lower end of the back stop 215 through the agency of a link 28| and'a bell crank lever 282, the lower arm of which is pivotally connected to the lower end of the backstop 215. With this construction of parts it will be evident that if the metering mechanism associated with shaft 33 is in the position indicated in Figure 1, with the tooth 49 holding down the arm 59 of the bell crank lever 5|, the backstop 215 will be in its raised position, enabling the machine to be started by setting the toggle links |33 and |34, but if the metering mechanism is not in this position the back-stop 215 will be in a depressed position and the pulling mechanism of the machine cannot be started. Associated with'this back-stop 215 we provide means for controlling it so that the pulling mechanism cannot be started unless the feeding mechanism has completed the operation of feeding in the stock.

For this purpose, referring to Figures 1, 20 and 2l, we provide the cam 45 (which makes one revolution with the metering mechanism) with a deep notch 283 and this notch cooperateswith a lever 284 which is mounted on the same pivot pin with the bell crank lever 5| and provided with a dog 285 that engages the upper edge of the bell crank lever 5| when the tip of the lever 284 passes down into the notch 283 near the completion of the feeding movement of the feeding mechanism. This lever 284 is pressed down with considerable force by a relatively stout spring 286. This spring is stronger than spring 3| and through dog 285 operates to hold d6wn the arm 50 of the bell crank lever 5|.

The length of stock fed in by the metering mechanism is determined by the relative position of the edge 283B. This follows from the fact that as soon as this edge of the notch 283 rotating clockwise (see Fig. 1) passes under the tooth of the lever 284, the spring 286 will depress lever 284 and through the agency of dog 285 will also depress bell-crank arm 50. This will compress spring 3|, and, as the end of the lever 284 rides up the inclined side of the notch, spring 286 becomes compressed, thereby resisting the rotation of the metering mechanism. While the dog 285 is holding the arm 50 down, the tooth 49 rides up under it and assists in stopping the metering mechanism. In order to enable the length of stock fed in to be accurately determined, the cam 45 carrying the notch 283 is preferably adjustably mounted on the hub 44. Thismay be accomplished in any well-known manner, for example, by having the periphery of hub 44 longitudinally serrated and forming the opening ,in the cam with corresponding serrations. To effect an adjustment, the cam may be slipped off and set forward or back before being replaced.

In feeding the stock into the machine, referring to Figures 1, 9, and 10, it is necessary to provide a special guide member which will operate uponl the moving stock as soon as it has passed throng-h the guide groove |90, to cause it to be deflected toward the left, as viewed in Figure 1, and thereby guide the stock into the guide frame 2. In order to accomplish this We provide a guide finger 281 which is pivotally mounted on a pivot pin 289 on the guide member |88, and this guide linger 281 is normally held back against a stop 290 by a small coil spring 29|. This finger 281 has a laterally projecting plate-like extension 292 having a fiat face 293 to come up against the face of the box and having a slightly inclined rear guide face 294 remote from the location of the box. This inclined guide face 294 is directly in line with the slot |90 so that when the stock comes through the slot |90 its forward end will engage this inclined guide face 294 and be deflected into the guide frame 2. When the block |88 swings away from the box to make clearance in the gap 63, the plate-like part 292 slips out from behind the band.

In this connection, attention is called to Fig.

ure 8. This guide finger performs another function in cooperation with the pawl 228 in that it will prevent the finger coming back into place in case a band on the box is in its way, as will be described again in this specification.

The preferred construction of the guide frame 2 will now be described, referring particularly to Figures 14 to 1'7 inclusive. This guide frame has a rigid back rail 295 that extends continuously' around the location of the box when it is in position for receiving the band and this back rail is` pivoted on pins 64a and 64b (see Figure l0) to the carriage 0f the machine at the gap 63 where the tie is formed in the band. The corners of the frame are provided with corner leaves 296 which are connected by hinges 291 to the back rail and these corner leaves are provided on the side toward the center of the frame with concave edges 298 at which point inwardly turned flanges 299 are provided. These flanges lie close to the inner face of the main rail 295 so as to form a narrow guideway 300 to receive the stock 24. The corner wings 296 are provided with means for yieldingly holding them in position to .form

this guide space 300 but constructed so that if a pull is exerted by the stock on the flanges 299 the corner wings 296 will separate and permit the stock to pull itself free of the flanges 299. In this connection it should be understood that when the stock is being pulled to pull it clear of the frame 2 most of the pressure on the frame will be exerted at the corners of the frame. We

utilize the spreading movement of the corner wings 296 to separate the side bars 30| which have flanges 302 at their inner edges (see Figure l5) which operate to form a guldeway for the stock, as indicated in Figure 15, and these side bars 33| are constructed so that they will be swung outwardly by the movements developed at the corners of the frame. For example, as illustrated in Figure 14, when the corner wings 296 at the upper left hand corner of the frame separate they engage dogs 303 on the side rails which project over their edges. In this way, the movement at the corners of the frame opens up the side rails These side rails need not be hinged but are preferably floating bars, being yieldingly pressed against the sides of the side rail by specially formed coil springs 304 which have the ends 305 of the coils of reduced diameter. The side bars are held in place by double pins 306 that extend through the main rail 235, being supported through the agency of openings 301 with rounded edges. These rounded edges and the contracted form of the coils 305 of the springs facilitate the spreading movement of the side bars. s

Figure 17 shows the relation of this frame with respect to the adjacent rollers that form part of the conveyor on which the boxes move into position in the frame. A

The three outer corners of the frameare typical in construction, whereasit is.necessary to form a special construction at the inner lower corner 308 of the frame. At this corner the two corner wings or wing plates 309 are attached on hinges 3|0 located on a substantially horizontal line and these wing plates may open out by motion communicated to them from the side bars 3H through the agency of dogs 3|2 projecting over the ends of these side bars. These side bars 3H receive their motion from the wing plates 3|3 at the outer lower corner of the box through the agency of dogs 3M similar to the dogs 303. But the pull in the stock at this corner will also operate to spread the side plates 308 in the manner described in connection with the corner plates When the operator o the machine desires to start it by depressing the tail lever or handle (see Figure 1) there is some danger that an inexperienced operator might keep his foot on this part and hold it depressed which might interfere with the automatic breaking of the toggle joint at the pin |36 or the proper action of the toggle links |42 and M4. For this purpose, it is desirable to provide the machine with a special actuating device for depressing this tail arm vorder to'accomplish this, we connect the treddle 3|5 to a special lever 3|6 pivoted on a pin 3|`| on the arm |32. This lever 3|6 is connected by a link 3|8 to the treddle so that when the treddle 3|5 is depressed, the lever SIS will swing down,

' the treddle being returned by a return spring in the form of a coil 320. vThe lever 3|3 is provided with a spring-.pressed pawl 32| in the form of a bell crank lever having a substantially horizontal arm attached to the lower end of a coil spring 322 suspended at 323 on the side of the frame I.

A lost motion connection including a pin 32E on the pawl and the elongated eye or loop 325 on the lower end of the spring is employed. The

spring for rendering the pawl spring-pressed is in the vform of a small coil spring 32E disposed around the supporting pin for the pawl. with this organization of parts, when the leser 316 is swung down the lower end of the pawl will strike the arm |35 and depress it far enough to set the toggle |33 up into the position in which it is indicated in full lines in Figure i. Beyond this point the `spring 322 will operate to pull the pawl to the right and move its lower end out of engagement with the end of the arm 35. In other words, the pawl will be pulled over so as to slip oif the arm |35.

rlhe machine preferably includes an automatic brake device to prevent the supply reel 32'! from rotating by its own momentum after the feeding of stock 24 (see Figure 29), is stopped. For this purpose the reel is mounted on a shaft 328 that rotates with the reel and this shaft freely carries a brake wheel 328.

The brake lever 330 is provided with a long arm 33| that extends down and carries a guide pulley 332 vunder which the stock passes before going into the machine under the roller 251 (see Figure 1). This brake lever includes shoe arm 333 connected to the arm 33t by an intemal cross bar 33d. mounted on a pivot pin 335 on a fixed reel frame 336 which has sockets 33T in its side bars 338 for supporting the ends of the shaft 328'.

The arm 333 carries a brake shoe 333 pivotally attached to the same. In addition to this a coil spring 340 is provided attached at one end to the vframe 336 and at its other end to the arm 33| of the brake lever.

` A coil spring 34| is provided on the shaft 328 located between the brake wheel 323 and the side of the reel. This spring is a torsion spring, one end of which is secured at 3&2 to the hub 328e: of the reel and the other end of which is secured to the brake wheel 329 so that when the stock isk being drawn off of the reel a certain amount of torsional stress is developed in the spring 34| so that the spring will operate to take up any slack onto the reel the instant that the feeding mechanism stops drawing the stock oi of the reel. When the stock is being drawn o, the pull of the stock is in a direction to hold the brake shoe 333, unapplied. As soon as the feeding mechanism stops drawing oi the stock from the reel.'

the brake presses against the brake wheel and stops the reel by increasing torsion 4in spring 34|; this spring then causes the reel to re-wind the slack and the torsion in the spring 34| is reduced to a point determined by the strength of the spring 360. The reel also takes up all slack given to it by the pulling mechanism in setting the band against the box.

Referring again to the arm 32 (see Figure 1), the side of the frame i of the machine is preferably provided with an adjustable stop 342 for limiting the amount of swing of this arm toward the left. 'This adjustable stop is in the form of a set screw and should include a check nut 343.

These two arms 33! and 333 are pivotally The general mode of operation of the machine Ashould be noted that the rollers of the conveyor are 'inclined so that the box tends by gravity to slide down the rollers and this insures that it will hold itself firmly against the guide blocks 1 and 8. With the box in this position the operator depresses the treddle 3 I 5 which depresses th'e lever 3|6 and through the slip pawl 32| presses down the tail lever or tail arm I 35 to set the toggle links |33 and |34 in their elevated andr relatively straight condition illustrated in full.

lines in Figure 1. At this time the stop I 40 on the tail arm is against the stop |4| on the lever arm |32. Furthermore, the back-stop 215 is in the position indicated in Figure l. Straightening out the toggle links |33 and |34 in this way causes the lever |21 to swing toward the left, thereby developing thrust in the bell crank lever |23 and through the pivot pin |22 to the shift'bar |2I. The shifting of this shift bar |2| to theleft exerts a thrust on the equalizer link I I2 and this force becomes appliedto the arm I II corresponding to the pulling roller |05, and through link ||3 also becomes applied to arm ||4 corresponding to pulling roller |01. The forces acting on these arms III and |I4'produce a slight rotation of the shafts |I0 and ||5 on their own axes and this depresses the eccentric necks |09 and ||6 for these rollers, thereby lcausing them to press the4 stock 24 firmly down onto the upper faces of the continuously driven pulling rollers |06 and |08. These rollers |06 and |08 are driven through the compound clutch '(see Figures 18 and 19) which at rst eiects a friction drive from the high speed gear 24| to the driven clutch member 246. This causes the pulling rollers |05,v |06, |01 and |08 to exert a quick and continuous pull upframe, 2. y I

The pulling on this stock quickly opens upfthe corner wings 296, 291, 309, and 3|3 of this frame, causing the frame to liberate the stock which' immediately has all of xits slack taken up so as to lay the stock in a band against the walls of the box. Soon after this, the tension developed in the band through the friction drive will become so great that the friction drive cannotA This gradually develops tension in the band which, by the way, is anchored at its inner end in the anchor gripper 68. As the tension is developed in the stock passing over Ythe pulleyv I6 and around the box a considerable thrust -develops at the shaft |3| of the pulley I6. This thrust develops a thrust through the toggle links |34 and |33 and through the bell crank lever |23 to the pin |22. This force, of course, is.exerted on the short arm |24 of the bell crank lever |23 to the pin |26 and along a line passing below the axis of pin |22. This force, therefore, exerts a turning movement on the bell crankflever |23,

lgle on its pivot |22. |21 and |30 to swing further to the left under i on the band or stock 24 which is in the Aguide lever |21 toward the nght |22l in a clockwise direction so that the long arm |25 of this bell crank lever swings upwardly. This develops a thrust irl the toggle link |42 which extends the spring V|48 and this extension i l .if thereby'rotatlng the bell crank lever on the pin continues until the link |42 rotates link lu far enough to the left to cause the stop |41 to limit the further swinging movement of the link |44 toward the left. In other words, the bell crank lever, |23 and the links |42 and |44 eventually assume the position indicated in Figure 2. While this is going on, of course, considerable horizontal thrust is developed ,in the bar 2| firmly holding the rollers |05 and |01 pressed down against the stock 24. In other words, by reason of the use of this thrust. the pressure of the rollers on the stock increases proportionately with the tension as it is developed in the band. movement of the toggle links |42 and |44 is,` i

utilized to start up the tying mechanism, as will be described hereinafter. When the toggle links ,-j

|42 and |44 and the bell crank lever |23 arrive in the position or relation indicated in Figure 2,

it will be evident that the arm |24 will have swung relatively to bar |2| through a slight an- This enables the levers the action of the tension developed in the stock and this causes a slight rotation of the arm |54 on the supporting pin |28. This arm |54 trips it by the pulling rollers.

At or before this time, themovement of the v toggle link |43 will have actuated the pawl or dog |1I tokick the latch |12 oi of the pin |13 and this will permit the clutch lever |15 to drop down Aunder the action of the clutch spring |18 and close the clutch |11. This starts up the drive to the tie forming mechanism to rotating pinion |84 (see Figure '1). The'pulling rollers |05 to |08 continue to pull in on the stock and develop an increased thrust in the toggle links |33 and |34 which eventually becomes sucient to break this toggle joint between these links in a downward direction, enabling spring |39 to pull the In this operation the lower end of the arm |32 may cooperate with the adjustable stop 342. Pulling on the lever |21 toward the right by swinging it on its pivot |28 pulls the control bar or shift bar |2| toward the right, thereby Araising the eccentric necks |09 and ||6 of the pulling rollers |05 and |01 and in this way stopping the pull on the stock.

now be described. When the actuating arm |54 (see Figures 1 and 7) moves toward the right it engages pawl |6| and exerts a force on the bell crank lever |58 which forms one member of a toggle formed at the pin |64. This breaks the joint at the toggle in an upward direction, as viewed in Figure 7 and as soon as this toggle v The tripping of the tension gripper |49 will joint is broken, the spring |61 pulls the arm |56 toward the left, thereby rotating the eccentric carrying pin |52 of the gripper in a direction to cause the jaw |49 (see Figure 12) to grip the stock against the inner face of the guide block 1. Now, the band is in tension and the tension is maintained through the tension gripper |49, and furthermore, the tying mechanism will have commenced to advance due to the tripping of latch |12. The drive for the tie forming mechanism comes up through the pinion |84 (see Figure 7) to the gear wheel |85, which, through the flexible connection |86, Figure 1 imparts rotation to the crankshaft |81. This causes the 

